These cookies have the perfect sweetness and chewiness you're looking for in a cut out cookie! They have simple ingredients and are perfect for any holiday or celebration!
I've had 37 Valentine's Days and my mom has made these cookies for me for every one of them! Well, I don't quite remember the first 5 or so, but as far as the rest of them, they were always wrapped and ready to celebrate with. She's now passed down these treasures and the memory of making them with her grandkids.
One thing great about these cookies is that you can celebrate it with any holiday. Over the holidays, my mom made the dough up ahead of time so that my daughter and I could bake and decorate them with her for Christmas. It was so fun seeing all the goofy creations we came up with. Santa liked them for sure!
Whether it's for a holiday, birthday or just because, these cookies are an excellent activity to get your kids involved with and have a lot of fun! Bonus, I live multiple states away from my mom and packed perfectly in air-tight containers with wax paper, not one of them was broken. It's always a sweet surprise to open these, take one bite and feel just like my mom is here with me!
What You’ll Need
- Butter
- Sugar
- Egg
- Milk
- Vanilla Extract
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Powdered Sugar
- Strawberry Extract
- Optional: Food Coloring and/or Sprinkles
Tools You’ll Need
How to Make this Recipe
- First, and most important, these must be made with LOVE!
- In a large bowl or in a stand mixer, beat together butter, sugar, egg, milk and vanilla extract until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Add the flour and baking powder and beat again until blended well.
- Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour or longer. Prior to baking allow the dough to sit out at room temperature until it's soft enough to roll easily.
- When you're ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375°F. On a lightly floured surface roll the dough to ¼-inch thickness. Using lightly floured cookie cutter(s), cut the dough into your desired shapes. Place 1-inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake in batches. Bake 7-10 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown.
- Transfer the cookies from baking sheet to a cooling rack. Once cool, decorate as desired with buttercream icing and decorations. Let stand until set.
- For the icing, combine butter, powdered sugar, strawberry extract and 3 tablespoons of the milk in a large bowl or stand mixer. Beat on high speed until smooth. Whip in the additional tablespoon of milk if needed. If you'd like to add food coloring, add it in this step as well.
Tips and Substitutions
- If the dough is too hard when you're ready to roll it out, let it come to room-temperature a little longer. This dough is easy to roll when it's ready.
- The cookies go from perfectly toasted to TOO toasted in about 45 seconds. To prevent this from happening, watch your first batch closely starting at 7 minutes into the bake time. Once you see a hint of brown at the edges, they're done. Now you'll know the perfect bake time for the rest of your batches.
- If you want to opt out of having frosting, you can add sprinkles on them before baking.
- You can re-roll the scraps as you cut out the cookies. More than 3 re-rolls isn't recommended to keep the optimal yummy cookie texture.
Storage
- These cookies can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature. They are best eaten 1 day after making and within a week, but they will last for 2-3 weeks.
- The dough can be wrapped in an air-tight container and frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before thawing at room-temperature for baking.
More Recipes Like This
Valentine Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 ½ tablespoon milk
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
icing
- ¼ cup butter room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoon strawberry extract
- 3-4 tbsp milk
Instructions
Cookies
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat together butter, sugar, egg, milk and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add flour and baking powder, beating again until blended.
- Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or longer. Prior to baking the cookies, allow the dough to stand at room temperature until soft enough to roll easily.
- To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375°F. On a lightly floured surface roll dough ¼ inch thick. With lightly floured cookie cutters, cut into desired shapes. Pat any excess flour off and place 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Re-roll scraps and bake in batches as needed Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden.
- Transfer the cookies from the baking sheet to a cooling rack. Once completely cooled, decorate as desired with buttercream icing and decorations. Let stand ant room temperature until set.
Icing
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine butter, powdered sugar, strawberry extract and 3 tablespoons of the milk in a large bowl or stand mixer. Beat on high speed until smooth. Whip in the additional tablespoon of milk if needed.
Leave a Reply